


Being Wrong

by Feneris



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Disagreements between parents, F/M, Gen, Parents, What if?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-16
Updated: 2014-10-12
Packaged: 2018-02-17 14:48:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2313356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feneris/pseuds/Feneris
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When his wife Valka was carried away by a dragon, the Chief of Berk, Stoick the Vast, never thought he would actually see her again.  He hoped against all hope that she would return of course, but in his heart he knew he she was likely gone forever. </p><p>So when against all odds she returns but a few months later, he is overjoyed beyond words. The entire village celebrates her escape from the dragon and her triumphant return to her husband and child.</p><p>Stoick is so relieved that he actually forgets to ask how it was she was able to escape. Or even, if it had been an "escape" at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Mother

Stoick would never forget the night he watched a four-winged dragon disappear into the sky with his wife clutched in its talons. He knew, somewhere deep in his heart, that she was not coming back. While he hoped against all hope that it wasn't true, he knew Valka was gone.

But for the first time in his life, that truth he knew deep in his heart was wrong.

It takes over a month, but Valka does return. She just steps off one of the trader's boats and right into the arms of her astonished husband. That was the day that Stoick realized that being wrong can sometimes be a very wonderful thing.

The entire village celebrates Valka's miraculous return, and the two of them dance at the feast just like they did on their wedding day and joke and laugh as they did when they were still courting. Even Hiccup's ear-piercing wails periodically interrupting the festivities do nothing to dampen the mood, in fact they bring small smiles to both parents faces.

He never asks exactly how Valka was able to escape from the dragon with her life and all her limbs. In truth he's so overjoyed he never even thinks to ask.

\---

If there is one thing that can be said about their little son Hiccup, it is that he is always full of surprises. It always surprises the two of them just what kind of trouble Hiccup can get into if he's left unattended for any period of time, a trait which gives him the dubious honor of being the only viking in the history of Berk to torch a forge before they could walk. While they have forgiven Gobber, they are still not leaving Hiccup alone with him until the boy is old enough to know how to handle fire responsibly.

But sometimes Hiccup's surprises are nice ones. His first word catches them completely by surprise. "Tooth'ess!" he babbles one day. 

Stoick for his part doesn't know what to make of it. From the little he understands, most children's first words are things like "mama", "papa", and "don't." "Toothless" is hardly on the list of the most common words for children to know. But Valka is more amused by it than anything, and Stoick decides its not even a big deal. Toothless is as good a word as any for a future chieftains first. 

Hiccup's second word is "dragon."

\---

Despite everything however, him and Valka still fight. Despite the fact she narrowly escaped being carried off and devoured by a dragon, she is still amendment in her defense of the beasts. It infuriates him like nothing else can. Valka is not blind nor cruel, she knows damn well what kind of damage and pain the dragon raids bring them. She has tended the wounded, fought to defend the children, rushed to put out fires when she was a girl on the fire brigade. She knows the people of Berk have done nothing to provoke these attacks, she knows how much pain and sorrow the dragons have brought them and yet she still defends them.

It's the one thing, the only thing, on which they cannot comprehend the other's position and talk it out. It seems no matter what, whenever the topic of dragons gets raised they end up screaming at each other before storming off in a blind furry to cool down before either does or says something they might regret. More than once Stoick has found himself sleeping over at Gobber's and sometimes it's Valka storming off into the woods towards Raven Point.

He assumes she has a camp out there, some place she can go to cool off. 

But as much as they may fight over dragons, both of them know that when the next dragon raid comes it will be Stoick leading the village, and Valka who grabs Hiccup and whisks him off to safety in the forest. Even when they've just had a fight, and are both so mad at the other they cannot so much as speak, they both know their duty, and they both know they can rely on the other. No matter how mad is is at Valka, Stoick knows he can rely on her to keep Hiccup safe and out of trouble and she knows that he will do everything in his power to make sure they both have a home and village to come back to.

So when the last of the dragons are gone, the last ember is snuffed out, and everyone stares up at the empty sky not quiet willing to believe it's actually over, both of them can come together, forgive each other, and start to put everything back together.

\---

While many would not guess it at first, Stoick has learned that Hiccup is quiet a courageous child. Unfortunately this has often meant that Hiccup is unafraid to get into trouble, and for some reason Stoick cannot wrap his head around, his son is completely unafraid of dragons.

Berk has always tried to keep at least one dragon imprisoned in the arena so that novice dragon-slayers can gain valuable experience fighting real beasts, and it is tradition to take the young children there to see the dragons, so that when a raid occurs they will not be so afraid they cannot make themselves move. But there is a fine line between bravery and foolishness, and Stoick knows that a little fear is always a good thing to have to keep you from doing something stupid.

Such as it is, Stoick was barely in time to stop Hiccup from trying to climb through the bars of the arena in order to get closer to the zippleback in the kill-ring. It had been close. Stoick was sure that if his son had stuck his foot an inch farther through the bars, the dragon would have bitten it right off. Hiccup for his part had pitched a fit about how he wanted to pet the dragon.

It is thus rather surprising to discover at dinner that night, that Hiccup is afraid of eels. When Stoick had placed a smoked eel down in front of his son, Hiccup had nearly fallen off his chair and gave Stoick a wide-eyed look that clearly asked if his dad was trying to kill him. He refused outright to so much as touch it, let alone eat it.

For some reason Valka found it absolutely hilarious, while Stoick is merely baffled. What's wrong with smoked eel? He liked smoked eel.

\---

It's a disappointment, Stoick won't deny, to discover that Hiccup doesn't seem to have the knack for fighting. He had been hoping Hiccup would grow up like his cousin Snoutlout, a stout and strong lad. But instead, Hiccup is a rather skinny and scrawny boy. When he thinks about it however, Stoick is at least thankful for the fact that for all his scrawniness Hiccup at least has a good head on his shoulders. It doesn't make Hiccup's attempts to swing a sword any less painful to watch however.

Any chieftain of Berk needs a strong arm in order to fight of dragons and defend his village. From what Stoick has seen, Hiccup is failing miserably in that regard. It's a painful admission to make, but that doesn't make it any less true.

Valka however doesn't seem to see this as a problem. "He's only ten," she'll remind him. "He still has a lot of growing to do." He can agree that she has a point, even if he doesn't exactly share her optimism. 

For her part Valka likes to take Hiccup camping. Just her and him. Valka considers it a good way to teach Hiccup woodlore and survival skills, and Stoick approves. Skills like that are important for anyone living smack dab on the Meridian of Misery and for a chief can often make the difference of life and death for his tribe. 

Raven Point is easily their favorite spot, but occasionally they take one of the small boats to go explore some of the nearby islands around Berk. They have even done longer excursions, a week or two at a time. The two of the try to make time every day to go exploring in the woods, and Stoick is sure they both know Raven's point like the back of their hands.

While Stoick won't admit it, he had actually been dreading telling Valka about his plans to have Hiccup apprentice with Gobber at the forge. But to his surprise Valka was all for it. Looking back on it, he figured his dread had been largely unwarranted. Valka knew the value of good steel as well as anyone else, and she could easily appreciate the skills Hiccup would be learning apprenticing with Gobber.

She's not even concerned about the apprenticeship cutting into the time she and Hiccup would normally spend camping, and in truth that's what Stoick had been worried about. He knows his wife and son love the time they spend camping, and he had been afraid both might resent him for interfering with it.

But for once his fears proved groundless. Valka approves of his decision, and while Hiccup may make sarcastic remarks about how all great chiefs start out making nails, it's also apparent that he's enjoying both Gobber's company and the challenges of the forge. It's enough to make him think that maybe Valka is right. Hiccup just needs time to grow into himself. Time will give strength to his arms and girth to his chest. Hiccup doesn't need to be chief yet. He just has to give it time.

\---

They say that the worst of calamities only happen on the days when they are completely unexpected. 

For certain it had been completely unexpected when the busy day Stoick expected practically pulled a disappearing act, leaving the Chief with an entire day free. It had been nothing more than an idle idea. Hiccup and Valka were out camping at Raven Point. It would be a nice thing to hike out there and join them. They hadn't told him where exactly they were camping, but Stoick had a pretty good idea where they were. He had heard Hiccup mention a cove up on the point that was a favorite spot of theirs, and he thinks he knows they place they're talking about.

Looking back on everything that happened that day, he's often surprised at how little he actually remembers. He remembers hearing Hiccups voice. He remembers seeing the black dragon. He remembers the jolt of pure fear that had stabbed through his heart. He remembers reaching for his axe. 

A dragon's screech of alarm. Hiccup shouting something. He can't remember what. The dragon with four wings. The dragon he'll never forget.

He remembers the dread. The terrible realization that the dragon had returned to pursue the prey that had escaped it thirteen years ago.

But the truth was much worse.

Valka's voice. _"Cloudjumper! Don't kill him!"_

It didn't kill him. It should have. Dragons always go for the kill.

He said things. He can't even remember what. Valka and him always fight about dragons.

Dragons are our enemies. They've killed hundreds of us for no reason but greed. She's been hiding one here for thirteen years.

Hurt. Tears. Hiccup yelling at them.

Two dragons flying towards the north. Hiccup and Valka aren't coming back.

Betrayal.

It feels like his heart has been ripped out of his chest leaving a gaping, numb wound. He's half in a daze as he makes it back to the village. It's like a new piece has been added to the picture of his life, and changed the way everything once looked.

Valka didn't escape from the dragon. _It let her go._

Hiccup called the dragon "Toothless." _Hiccup's first word was "toothless."_

Hiccup wanted to pet the dragon in the arena. _She's probably let him pet both dragons since he was old enough to speak._

Valka always hides in the forest when there is a raid. _The same forest where the dragons are hiding._

They've always went camping at Raven Point. _The dragons where hiding up at Raven Point._

Thirteen years. _You never suspected a thing._

He's still out of it when he makes it back to his home on the hill. Still half in a daze when Gobber drops by. He's only vaguely aware of his friend pulling up a seat and sitting down across from him.

"What's happened?"

So he tells Gobber everything. About how Valka had been hiding a dragon in the cove at Raven Point and raising a nightfury alongside their son. He tells him about Hiccup's first words, about him being completely unafraid of dragons, and how the dragons have corrupted nearly every precious memory he has. He tells Gobber about his fights with Valka, about the last fight with Valka. He tells him about Hiccup and Valka flying off on the backs of their dragons, how they're never coming back, and how the whole thing doesn't even seem like it's real.

Gobber can scarcely believe it either. But he knows his friend is not one to lie or exaggerate. So he believes it all at face value, because he knows Stoick wouldn't be telling him this otherwise. He stays until Stoick announces he's going to bed, and lingers around until he hears Stoick's heavy snores shake the house.

When Stoick wakes up the next morning, he discovers that Gobber has been telling everyone that Valka and him had a huge fight last night, and that her and Hiccup had gone off camping for a long while. There is no mention about dragons, hiding out a Raven Point or otherwise, and as far as anyone knows Valka and Hiccup will be back when she's finally cooled herself down and forgiven Stoick for whatever it was they were arguing about. 

"They'll be back," Gobber never fails to remind him. "Just give them time."

However, Stoick knows deep in his heart that they won't be back. No after the secrets they were hiding, and definitely not after the things he said. 

But sometimes, being wrong is a good thing.

Because after three years, Hiccup does come back.


	2. The Son

Hiccup's return is as unexpected as Valka's had been. On morning there's a knock on the door, and when Stoick opens it, there is Hiccup standing on the front step. He doesn't give more than a greeting, certainly no excuses or explanations, and Stoick doesn't ask for them.

The next morning he's helping Gobber in the forge as if nothing unusual had happened. While both him and his father are well prepared to act as if nothing is out of the ordinary, the same cannot be said for the village. Gossip darts back and forth like a dragonfly as people speculate. To Stoick's relief however, no matter how wild the rumors get not one mention is made of dragons. As far as anyone knows the Chief and his wife had a fight, the wife ran off with their son, and now the son has come back. Folks are curious, but more in the way of people trying to sniff out juicy gossip, not people trying to unearth some dark secret their leader is hiding.

For the moment Stoick is just relieved to see his son again. He had thought both Valka and him were gone forever, and he is grateful beyond words he was at least half wrong. 

\---

The topic of dragons doesn't get raised. Not at first. 

In fact Stoick is able to keep the topic completely out of his mind. Until one day Gobber approaches him to tell him that Hiccup has started working on a project. A saddle. Gobber for his part is completely bewildered. They have no horses on Berk. Their rocky island is ill suited for them and they need every bit of grazing land they have for their sheep. Not to mention that horses panic too easily when confronted by both fire and dragons. So why in Odin's name would Hiccup be making a saddle? What would he be riding?

Stoick has a pretty good idea.

It hasn't escaped his notice that Hiccup is still spending a lot of his time out at Raven Point. 

Therefore he isn't really surprised when Astrid Hofferson arrives at his door one day, out of breath from running and reporting that there is a black dragon hiding out in a cove on Raven's Point. There's a part of him that desperately wants to get the village together and deal with that dragon once and for all. There hasn't been a nightfury on Berk in nearly thirty years, but Stoick can still recall clearly the screaming whistle and the deadly bursts of blue fire as the dragon struck. The terrible dragon that is never seen and never misses. Just the knowledge that the offspring of lightning and death is on the island is enough to make him uneasy.

But he also knows with a dreadful certainty that unless Hiccup is made to see sense first, any action he takes against the dragon will only drive his son away. And he can't take that. Not when he's just gotten him back. 

So he makes a compromise with himself. He tells Astrid not to worry. That he has a plan to deal with the dragon. He warns her not to tell anybody what she saw. The dragon is still dangerous, he explains. He doesn't want someone like Snotlout or the Thorston twins heading out there to try and prove themselves, and getting someone needlessly killed in the process. 

It's actually a legitimate concern. 

Astrid for her part agrees solemnly. Swears on her father's grave not to tell anyone without his permission. He knows Astrid for all her faults is a trustworthy girl. She won't say anything to anybody unless he gives her the go-ahead. 

As long as that nightfury stays hidden and out of sight. Stoick is content enough to pretend he doesn't know of its existence. For now at least. Every night however, he still keeps his ears peeled for the screaming whistle which warns of a nightfury's incoming attack. 

\---

It's been three years since Hiccup disappeared, and Stoick is disappointed to learn that time has not made his son into warrior material. Of all the things for Valka to be wrong about, it had to be this. 

Hiccup is still as scrawny as he used to be. His skills with a sword and pathetic at best, and he can only swing an axe or a hammer if he's chopping wood or shaping metal. It seems ungrateful in a way, Stoick sometimes reflects. He's gotten a second chance with his son, and all he can think of right now is how disappointed he is in Hiccup's sword skills.

But the problem is, the sword skills matter. They matter so much. Hiccup can't be chief if he cannot lift a sword. The rest of the village simply wouldn't respect him, and a viking chief's authority was rooted in respect. If the village couldn't respect Hiccup enough to bow to his authority, than you could say Hiccup was the chief all you wanted, but it wouldn't make him one.

Stoick failed to suppress a groan as Hiccup once again tripped over his own feet. He's trained boys before. He knows the best way to motivate them, to put down the ones with the egos and raise up the ones with no confidence. He knows how to convince young men to give everything their all and try their hardest. In most cases, once motivation was taken care of, almost nothing could stop someone from improving.

The problem is, that's not the problem. 

Hiccup _is_ trying. He's trying as hard as he can. But for whatever reason it's not enough, and Stoick doesn't know what to do.

He's got everything else. Stoick knows Hiccup would easily be able to handle all the planning, diplomacy, and tough decisions a chief would need to make. But without strength, courage, martial skill, and all the respect that goes with them, all of Hiccup's other strengths won't matter, because no one would follow any decision he made.

Hiccup might not succeed him as chief.

It's a cold and painful realization. But when he looks at everything his son is now, and tries to think of him leading the village against the dragons, he just can't imagine it.

It hurts.

\---

Stoick finds the book completely by accident one day. He's going through Hiccup's room, trying to find one of the village record-books he had misplaced, when he finds the book tucked away in the bottom of one of Hiccup's chests. It's only the fact that he cannot remember what the record-book looks like, that Stoick quickly flips through the book to see what it is.

It's a book on dragons. Hiccup's own book. Each entry is illustrated with what Stoick assumes is Hiccup's own hand, and contain articles detailing the boy's observations. It's clear Hiccup has taken a lot of care with this, and Stoick finds himself impressed. So impressed in fact that he takes the book, and begins giving it a serious read through. 

From the very beginning it's clear Hiccup based the book on Berk's own Book of Dragons. But it's also very unlike the Book of Dragons in a way the almost unnerves Stoick. Hiccup has filled pages upon pages with his observations, some entries are as much as ten pages long. But unlike the ancient vikings of Berk, Hiccup has instead focused his attention on things like diet, and behavior. Despite the detail of the articles, Stoick is finding that there is very little useful information. Hiccup only mentions things such as weaknesses or blind-spots as mere side notes, and only if the weakness in question is particularly unusual or counter-intuitive. He doesn't even mention shot counts. There's next to none of the vital information that could save your life if you are fighting a dragon. It's worrying, deeply worrying.

_Terrible Terror: These small dragons are particularly trusting, and will instantly regard anyone who feeds them as a friend. While a swarm of them can pose a threat to a lone viking, they will never attack unless directly provoked, and instead will settle for making annoyances of themselves until their victim either feeds them or chases them off. They are can be easily distracted by food and shiny objects. Mostly harmless. Feed on sight._

Stoick doesn't know what to make of it.

What even more worrying however is the fact that Hiccup has listened dragon species which are not mentioned in the Book of Dragons, and of which Stoick hasn't even heard a whisper of. Either Hiccup has made them up, or the Book of Dragons is woefully incomplete.

There are dozens of them: scuttleclaws, hobblegrunts, and sailbacks. Even that four winged beast of Valka's which is listed as a stormcutter. There's a twenty page article on nightfuries, complete with page after page of illustrations. The one dragon no one one Berk had even caught a glimpse of not matter how devastating it's attacks. Stoick reads pages on rumblehorns, shockjaws, and bewilderbeasts. 

At first he's not terribly impressed with the so called "King of Dragons." Despite it's long tusks and ability to spray water so cold it freezes instantly, Stoick can already predict that it's forward-facing eyes would leave a large blind-spot at it's rear, one any Viking could figure out how to exploit. To top it off, it can't even fly. Every viking on Berk knows that a dragon that can't fly is as good as dead.

Then he reads Hiccup's notes on size. 

His first thought is that Hiccup must have made a mistake when he wrote everything down. If the numbers of are correct, that would mean that a bewilderbeast would be big enough to swallow a monstrous nightmare whole with plenty of room to spare. 

That can't be right. There's no way any dragon could possibly grow to be that big. Hiccup must have made a mistake!

But what if he hadn't?

The thought follows him throughout the day, even when he climbs into bed that night, dreams of dragons as big as Berk still swirling around in his head.

How do you slay a dragon that big?

When morning comes he still doesn't have an answer 

\---

There are certain things that were never mentioned between Stoick and Hiccup. Valka and dragons being chief amongst them. It's an unspoken agreement. Born more out of a mutual desire to avoid a nasty argument over unsettled issues and unanswered questions than anything else.

It was an agreement Stoick was going to break, and he wasn't looking forward to it. So when Hiccup comes in the house that evening, Stoick decides to go right for the point.

"I've signed you up for dragon training with Gobber."

It goes as well as he was expecting it to. Hiccup's own views mirror Valka's, Stoick has always known that about him. So it comes to no surprise that he doesn't want to learn how to slay dragons.

They argue. Nothing gets held back. Everything that has been left unsaid for three years get's thrown into the open and swung like a blunt weapon. 

But no matter how loud they yell, or how sharp Hiccup's sarcastic comments get, they don't make any headway. It's like they're both arguing to a brick wall.

"And what will you do if you're attacked?" Stoick shouts. "You can't defeat a dragon by scratching it under the chin!"

He doesn't expect much from this. He's already preparing his next argument. Except Hiccup's face changes at those words.

"Okay dad, I'll do it."

It's so surprising that Stoick is actually taken off stride. He certainly hadn't expected Hiccup to give in so suddenly. In fact he had fully expected to force Hiccup into complying whether he wanted to or not. For all the ways he's so terribly un-viking, Hiccup at least has a viking's stubbornness. Something he no-doubt has gotten from both Stoick and Valka.

Maybe, Stoick thinks, he's actually gotten through to Hiccup. Regardless of how much he shared Valka's opinions, Hiccup needs to know how to slay dragons. He can't hide in the woods forever. He's going to have to defend the village, and one day he'll have things he needs to defend; regardless of whether he becomes chief or not. 

Maybe, Hiccup is finally starting to understand that.

Stoick goes to bed that night feeling as if a great weight has been taken off his back.

\---

Stoick is not sure what to expect when he finally gets around to observing Hiccup and the dragon training class. He's not sure whether to expect a disaster or a miracle. When he had asked, all Gobber had done was give him a strange look, as if he wasn't sure how to answer, and simply told him he would be better off seeing for himself. So that's what he did.

Of all the things he expected however, Stoick was not expecting to find himself eating his words.

He's not expecting Hiccup to bring down a deadly nadder by dropping his weapons, approaching the beast in straight in its line of sigh, and _scratching it under the chin._

The nadder goes down as if it had been struck with a warhammer. 

Hiccup looks up at him then, and Stoick recognizes the look in his eyes. He's not being smug, not exactly. But he's saying clearly that his dad was wrong, and he's just proved it to both of them. 

The next day Hiccup has a basket filled with the tall marsh grass from up in the hills. Stoick watches in disbelief as the gronckle gets one sniff of it, it's pupils go wide, and it becomes as docile as a trained puppy. 

He watches a terrible terror run around in circles, chasing the point of light Hiccup is reflecting off his shield. It's so distracted by the gleam, Hiccup is able to guide it right back into it's cage without a single bit of fuss.

He can barely bare to watch as the hideous zippleback flees in terror from the eel Hiccup holds in his hands. No dragon has ever fled from a warrior of Berk with the same kind of fear. The damn eel is not even alive, and it still afforded more fear than the entire village. 

The vikings of Berk have traditions of dragon slaying going back over three hundred years, and Hiccup is making a mockery out of all of them. He hasn't once swung a weapon, drawn dragon's blood, or even said an unkind word to one of the dragons. Yet, he has also succeed in taking down the dragons with ease. He can't blame Gobber for his indecisiveness. He even finds himself dreading the prospect of Hiccup facing the monstrous nightmare. 

More to the point, people are going to start wondering how Hiccup figured these things out. The fact that dragons are afraid of eels is not exactly common knowledge. What would happen if people find out about the nightfury in the cove? At the moment there are three people who know of the dragon, and only two that know of Hiccup's true relationship with it. 

He watches Astrid follow Hiccup into the woods with a feeling of trepidation.

\---

He doesn't know what happened in the forest at Raven's Point, but from then on it is Astrid and Hiccup sneaking off into the woods together. Stoick knows what it looks like. There are whispers, snickers, and giggling speculation about just what exactly Hiccup and Astrid are getting up to, alone on Raven's Point. He's even had Astrid's parents approach him and bluntly ask what Hiccup's intentions are towards their daughter, and whether or not they need to start getting a dowry together. 

Stoick knows what it looks like, and he also knows that's mostly likely not what it is. He knows Astrid to be a very steadfast girl and not one to be easily swayed. The fact that she hasn't come banging on anyone's door with a tale of treachery and black dragons means that Hiccup must have found some way to convince her. That worries him. Astrid is not the type to be swayed by pretty words or the fact Hiccup is the chief's son. If Hiccup had convinced Astrid to see his way in regards to dragons, than it is very possible he could convince others as well. If he got Astrid on his side, then convincing Fishlegs, Snotlout and the Thorston twins would be simple. 

That worries him a lot. 

In either case, he starts putting together a bride-price in his head. Calculating in his head just exactly how many sheep to offer so as not to offend the Hoffersons. Just in case he is wrong, and things actually are what they look like.

He's not putting much hope on it in any case.

\---

Hiccup has finally dropped dragon training. It's nothing official or anything. He simply stopped showing up for lessons one day, and after his performances in previous classes, neither Stoick nor Gobber are exactly dragging him back. 

While they will never acknowledge it out loud, Hiccup's little displays in the ring have shaken them. They know dragons, they've fought them since they were kids themselves. Dragons are vicious remorseless killers, and that peace will not be possible until there are no more dragons left to attack them. Except Hiccup that Hiccup has stopped them every time without once drawing a weapon. The dragons for their part have no problem ignoring Hiccup's existence, and will not make a more to attack him. They'll even go so far as to knowingly expose their blind spots to him so that they can focus on the other students. They shouldn't be doing that. 

But they do, and neither man knows what to make of it.

Oddly enough it is Astrid and Hiccup's daily disappearance into the woods that is the center of most of the gossip. More than a few people are jokingly betting on when the wedding will be, and under what circumstances. Even Stoick is half expecting to find Astrid's mother at his door one day telling him that they need to get a wedding together immediately. 

Both of them insist they are training, and at the moment there is no reason to really doubt them. As long as they are back home in time for dinner and no strange bruises start appearing on their necks, than both sets of parents a willing to let things follow their natural course. It's all so normal that Stoick can almost forget about the black dragon hiding in the cover off Raven's Point. 

Then one night, they don't return home. The sun slowly drifts below the horizon, and dinner goes cold on the table. Astrid's parents greet him at the door, more annoyed than worried, asking pointedly if his son is home and whether or not their daughter is possibly with him. 

It's at that moment a monstrous nightmare bursts from a cloud-bank, the watch horns sound, and a building goes up in flames. At that point what two teenagers are doing by themselves out in the woods becomes a rather secondary priority.

\---

All things being equal. It hadn't actually been a bad raid. The dragons had wanted only to make a quick grab, and focused all their energy on easy targets. By the time the whole village had been mobilized the last of the dragons were already disappearing disappearing into the sky with their ill gotten gains. Five sheep, three racks of drying fish, and a burned shed had been all the damage done. 

Astrid and Hiccup were still unaccounted for. 

Throughout the entire battle Stoick had kept expecting to hear the tell-tale whistle and the burst of blue fire. The ultimate proof that he had made a huge mistake in not killing that dragon when he fist heard of it. But nothing of the sort happened. No sign of any nightfury, and no signs of Astrid and Hiccup. 

Now mere annoyance has changed to sharp worry. Where are they?

It's nearly dawn before they do return. They stagger out of the woods, smelling faintly of smoke, and Hiccup gives a nervous, red-faced story about how he had gotten stuck and Astrid had to spend all night trying to rescue him. No word of dragons, just a harmless misadventure out in the woods the kept them from returning.

There's groans, grumbles, and a few muttered insinuations about what a boy and a girl out in the woods together were really doing, but that's the extent of it. Folks return to their beds, and by morning it is as if nothing has happened. 

\---

It's Astrid who shows up at his door a few weeks later. 

She's wants to know if Hiccup and him have figured out what to do about the nest. 

He doesn't know what she's talking about. He says as much. Astrid's face drains of color.

"He didn't tell you?" 

"Tell me what?"

Dread is building in his stomach, as Astrid sits down at their table. She looks nervous now, and is wringer her hands as she explains.

Stoick's mind is whirling as she talks about riding on Hiccup's dragon with him, about going flying and accidentally blundering into the raiding dragons returning from Berk with their plunder. His thoughts are practically howling in his ears as she tells him about finding the nest at Helheim's gate. The same nest he has been hunting for as long as he can remember. The same nest that is the source of every dragon which has raided their village since the day their ancestors landed on the island. His heart is pounding, and a familiar feeling is building in his chest. He barely hears Astrid say something about a dragon queen. 

Hiccup knew where the dragon's nest was. He didn't tell him.

Stoick knows this numb, gaping feeling growing in his heart.

Betrayal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I lied. This was not updated as fast as I originally planned, nor is it going to be the two chapters I was originally aiming for. I'm sorry about that but coursework caught up to me and I have been frantically researching and writing a bunch of things that are completely unrelated to fanfiction for the past month. I apologize for this. That being said I do hope to have the last part up and ready quickly, with the hope of getting it done before the deadlines rear their heads again. 
> 
> Believe me at your own risk.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, there will be a second part to this. I am aiming to have it up before Friday, but with university life being what it is, I make no guarantees.
> 
> As for the story, the original premise was the "what if" idea, what if Valka had been the first viking of Berk to tame a dragon and change what it means to be a viking. The idea shifted a little to, the more basic idea. What if Valka had come back at the first opportunity. And because I can imagine neither her nor Stoick being one to back down from what they believe is right, this story was born. 
> 
> That all being said, I do read comments and I gladly welcome any advise or critiques people want to give me. Hope you enjoyed reading.


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